Foxlight (Real World Records)
www.iarla-o-lionaird.net
Launched at the Galway Arts Festival on July 25th this is the long anticipated studio album from the Ballyvouney Sean-nós singer. This is a gentler album than the ones he made with the Afro Celt Sound System but it still employs a range of modern instruments to add washes of sound to his evocative vocals. On the album he is joined by Leafcutter John, Simon Edwards and Neil McColl, with Leo Abrahams being the musical whizz behind it all, as he layers in electric guitar, piano, effects and digital programming.